Take Us Back
by IrishTrickster
Summary: AU. She had only been gone for barely a few weeks and already everything turned upside down. Now she had to somehow make everything go back the way it used to be; with her life, with the situation and most importantly, with her. Set after season 1 and goes off-track from season 2. Beth/Alison.


They had found her.

At first she had dismissed the idea of that, thinking it was incredulous and untrue. She returned to walking, hands shoved into her jacket, hood turned up and hiding her face as she headed down the vacant street. Behind her she heard the faint sound of footsteps that seemed to be getting louder and louder. She turned a corner, brushing off the feeling of agitation that was telling her that they had found her. That was impossible, it had been so long that they couldn't have just randomly found her.

She glanced back behind her, jaw clenching as she saw it was the man with the suit that had been where she was previously. She shouldn't have made that stop into the bar but it had been ages since she last had a drink and the idea of a free glass of water had been too promising. What she didn't expect was to find a man there who wouldn't stop staring at her. At first she ignored it but it wasn't until he didn't look away that she realized just who he was. She had left, tugging her hood up and returning to the streets which were empty as she attempted to ignore the feeling of paranoia.

Dyad.

Not even twenty-four hours back in town and already she was being chased by those maniacs.

She slipped her hand into her pocket, gripping tightly the switchblade that had been there. She wished she had a gun but she had been in a rush and couldn't afford the time to try and sneak one through the airport. Her steps slowed and her heart pounded, looking up and spotting a nearby alleyway. She entered it and quickly went to duck behind a large trashcan. As she expected, not long after the man from before was there too.

Seeing as it would take only a few seconds for him to realize she was hiding, she immediately rushed out to tackle him, unsheating the blade and ramming it into his shoulder. He slammed into the wall and she gripped the knife and took it out, going to stab him again. Unfortunately this time she missed and her arm was grabbed and twisted, causing her to drop the blade as it fell to the floor. She couldn't begin to look for it in the dark ground as she was being grabbed and kneed in the gut.

She doubled over, winded as she didn't get time to recover before an elbow was being delivered swiftly to her back and she crashed to a wet puddle in the ground. She grunted and struggled to get back up, managing to do it somehow but before she could do anything she was kicked straight in the face. She felt her lip split and she glared up at him.

"You don't have to fight back, Sarah. Just let me bring you to Rachel and you can have Kira back."

Who the hell was Sarah? She dropped her gaze to scan quickly for her knife but the dark light was making it hard to find, "How the hell can I trust you?" She asked to buy herself some time because even if she didn't know who the hell this Sarah was (God forbid it wasn't what she thought it was)

"Rachel has already offered you a deal. She's willing to make another one. Simply come with me and be reunited with her."

Rachel, Rachel, Rachel. Why did that name sound so familiar to her? Probably an idiot from the Dyad trying to round up more toys to play with.

She spotted a glint of silver then and she grabbed it, accidentally slicing her palm. She managed to keep her wince of pain down as she stood up, "Alright, fine. I'll come with you." She commented before without warning she tackled him again. This time she drove the blade deep into his arm and pinned down the other one before she sent a punch straight to his face. She didn't hesitate to do it again and again until the body went limp below her.

She took a moment to make sure he wasn't too horrifically injured. She inspected his wounds and it seemed like she didn't hit any vital areas. Hopefully he would just be unconscious for a few hours. She sighed and got off of him, crouching down to see what he had with him. A wallet that looked pretty standard. Further inspection confirmed her suspicions that he was indeed from the institute as she found in his shirt pocket what looked like an identity badge.

She paused as she saw something in his wallet, a photo. She pulled it out, looking at what was a photo of her. Or something with her face. It couldn't be her, this one was wearing too much eyeshadow and had a rougher overall appearance.

But considering her current appearance now, she probably looked a lot like her.

She flipped it over, spotting the name 'Sarah Manning' scrawled on the other side. She looked at it and scowled. Another one. She didn't care now, she had better things to do. She took his phone but couldn't access it, seeing how it was password-protected. But she shoved it into her pocket anyways because it could be useful later. She also took his identity badge.

She left the alleyway then, reaching up and touching her lip. She passed by a glass window and looked to see her reflection.

It was as if a different woman was staring back at her. Her hood was down and her dark hair was a messy, tangled mess. Her eyes were narrowed and focused. Her lip was bleeding and her cheek was cut heavily from where it must have hit the floor and she looked to be forming a bruise on her temple.

It was hard to believe that this person used to be a hard-boiled, witty detective who had been living a bright life at one point. She had everything going for her and then it was all turned upside down. She briefly wondered if maybe one day she could go back to the way things used to be but somehow she didn't think so.

She continued walking then, heading to a familiar area where she had a visit to make. She knew it wasn't going to go well, but tried to hold onto some hope.

Because, Beth Childs had learned a long time ago that sometimes hope is the only thing that people need to have.

She should have thought her little assault through some more. That man had clearly taken a toll on her. Her lip continued to bleed and her stomach felt on fire as did her back. She sluggishly continued her steps, thankful for the fact that it was night and no one was ever outside late in a neighborhood. Beth cringed as she walked, trying to will herself to continue. The streets were becoming familiar, the houses more recognizable.

All of a sudden her pocket buzzed. She took it out and saw then that it was the phone she had took from that man. 'Unknown Caller' flashed above it and she contemplated answering it before she declined it. Answering it might just give them a location and leading them here wasn't going to be a good thing.

Beth practiced words in her head but unfortunately couldn't draw up anything good. She was going to pissed at her. That she had lied to her and disgraced her and went behind her back but Beth hoped she would understand.

She was weary though seeing as she only arrived back in town earlier today and yet she had already been discovered by the Dyad. Or Sarah had been discovered by them. Whoever she was.

Beth stopped then, looking up at the house she had been at more times than she could count. Looking clean as always. She slouched her way up to the door, not caring that the odds of her answering the door were limited. She wiped at her lip and knocked on the door lightly, her hand leaving blood marks on the door.

She stepped back, ready to run and not look back if it wasn't her that was there but soon the door swung open and there she was.

Beth paused as she took her in. She looked the same, she even wore than same ridiculous robe that she had about ten versions of. She stayed quiet, looking her up and down, almost smiling at the sight but it had been a long time since she had truly smiled.

"Sarah? What are you doing?" Alison Hendrix immediately hissed at her and Beth's almost smile disappeared. Now she was getting really worried. Who was Sarah and why did Alison know her? "The kids are sleeping and if they see you then I will-" She paused, suddenly noticing her matted appearance, "What happened to you?" She asked then, her eyes widening.

"I got into a fight."

"Drop the accent, Sarah," Alison shot in firmly.

"What accent?" Why would she have an accent? Or this Sarah. God, Beth was getting confused. This had been the first time she seen Alison in God knows how many weeks and she was mistaking her for a clone (she assumed this mainly but had an inkling she was right), "Ali, it's me." She stepped up closer to her, looking her straight in the eyes that were the same as, but yet so different from her own, "Alison, it's me, Beth."

The silence that followed was painful to say the least. Alison's grip on the door looked so tight she was positive it would crack at this rate.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I'm Beth," She retorted with annoyance because she was inches away from fainting and proving who she was really wasn't going to help her, "I'm back and I know you have some questions and-"

A sharp noise filled the air and her cut cheek stung even more. Her head snapped to the side and she registered the pain of a slap before looking back at Alison who's expression was either angry or shocked, "Alis-" Beth went to say, moving forward as if to grab her when the door slammed (more like closed quickly but then quietly) in her face. She stared ahead of herself, blinking and trying to wonder what the hell just happened.

And more importantly who the hell was Sarah.


End file.
